Dual Boot + Partition Magic = Nightmare?

[Guest]

I have a dual boot system running win xp on both hds - 120g(older) & 250g. I
used partition magic on the 120g. Now when I tried to run the 250g w/o the
120g, it complains it can't find a valid partition table. Can someone shows
me how to save my hds?

ps. hd = hard disk
g = GigaByte

 

[Rich Barry]

When you installed WinXP on the larger hard drive did you have the
smaller drive connected. If so the boot.ini and other
bootloader files are on that smaller drive.

 

[Guest]

When you installed WinXP on the larger hard drive did you have the

smaller drive connected. If so the boot.ini and other
bootloader files are on that smaller drive.

Yes the larger hd was connected as 'slave' drive.

 

[Rich Barry]

Reconnect the smaller drive and see if it boots Ok. From the OS in the
smaller drive go into WinExplorer>select Tools>
Folder Options>View>click on Show hidden files and folders and Uncheck
Hide protected operating system files
You will then probably see the Boot.ini file there.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Rich for the reply, wondering how do u capture the screen when it
boots up? I want to show the screenshots of some error message I get when it
boots up.

Another question, if a motherboard can support a 250gb drive as a slave
drive, it should be able to boot with that drive right?

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

Treehh,

The main issue appears to be whether the HD in the first slot is in fact has
an active partition, plus whether it is in fact bootable. It all has to do
with how you "prepped" the new HD.
I bet if you placed your original drive back in the first IDE slot, it would
boot up fine.

As a cautionary note, make sure you have on hand a set of Partition Magic
"rescue / bootup" diskettes.
If you have not made them, do so now. (Even if you have to switch drives).

These rescue disks are extremely useful. They will allow you to look at all
partitions, on all HDs, and to do maintenance.

Your other issue is whether the BOOT.INI file is properly setup on the
"boot" drive for the purposes of multi-boot setup.

Note that Partition Magic has nothing to do with a proper setup of a
multi-boot system or the BOOT.INI file.

Like Rich said, look up location of Boot.ini (which hard drive is it on),
and the files contents.

How To Create a Multiple-Boot System in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/306559